Maryland a Top 10 Best State for Teachers, According to Study

To highlight the challenges facing teachers, and to note which states need to improve the environment for teachers, online financial resource WalletHub released a study of 2015’s Best and Worst States for Teachers.

After looking at a series of metrics like compensation, competition and academic environment, the study determined Massachusetts is the nation’s best state for teachers, trailed by Virginia. Maryland landed in the No. 10 spot on the list.

Maryland ranked 12th in Job Opportunity and Competition, and 42nd in High Competition, described as the number of teachers per student.

Take a look at the top 10 states for teachers in 2015, as well as the bottom five:

• Massachusetts
• Virginia
• Minnesota
• Wyoming
• New Jersey
• Iowa
• Wisconsin
• Pennsylvania
• Kansas
• Maryland

Bottom Five: Oregon, Mississippi, Arizona, North Carolina and West Virginia

Wallet Hub says of the teaching profession: “Teachers across the U.S. are shortchanged every year — their salaries consistently fail to keep up with inflation — while the law demands they produce better students. It’s no surprise that the high turnover rate within the field has been likened to a revolving door. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about a fifth of all newly minted public-school teachers leave their positions before the end of their first year. And nearly half of them never last more than five.”